Requests
by Witch Bomb
Summary: Requested stories, both from Tumblr and from other users on FFN.
1. Natsu x Ultear: Coffee Shop AU

**A/N: I decided to take all my requests from Tumblr and turn them into one story. The original, single versions were deleted, but I do appreciate the feedback I got on some of them! Thanks for reading!**

* * *

That damn customer, always getting into fights - and inevitably knocking someone's coffee over, staining the shining tiles. Ultear grumbled to herself as she mopped up Natsu's spilled coffee for what seemed like the millionth time since their first meeting: why must he be so reckless, so clumsy?  
And yet, somehow, she found herself smiling whenever he entered the coffee shop - he always seemed to make her life as a Starbucks employee more interesting… even if he was a nuisance.


	2. Serena x Neinhart

Waking up was like resurfacing from the depths of a lake. Everything seemed dark, muted - and then all at once, light and sound burst out all around him, startling him into full wakefulness.

Neinhart glanced around to find himself in an unfamiliar room full of strange, foreign-looking objects and framed photos. Next to the bed, Serena seemed to be dozing off in a wooden chair. Was this his room?

"Serena?"

With a startled snort, Serena snapped awake. "…Neinhart! You're up!"

"That I am." Neinhart took in the room again. "What happened, exactly?"

Serena stood up and stretched. "You fainted straight into my arms." Smirking, he struck a pose. "If you wanted my attention, you didn't have to go to such extremes, you know."

"I fainted? May I ask why?"

"I'm not sure." Serena stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe it had something to do with you wearing that armour of yours in more than thirty degrees Celsius?"

"…Oh." Everything was coming back to him now: he and Serena had left the palace to go shopping, but it had been much warmer than usual. Needless to say, he had ended up severely regretting his decision to wear armour. "Where's my armour now? I don't see it in here."

"Oh…" Serena scratched the back of his neck. "I may have taken it off of you after you fainted. Don't worry, though, I left it in a safe place."

Neinhart stared at him, fighting against his growing panic. "Where did you leave it?"

"In the bushes outside the market."

Cursing uncharacteristically, Neinhart leapt out of the bed, nearly knocking Serena over. "We have to find it before someone else does!" He strode toward the door - then he turned around, grabbed the back of Serena's coat, and dragged him through the doorway. "You did this. You're helping me find it."

Serena grinned, apparently oblivious to Neinhart's annoyance. "Okay. Let's go find your armour!" A few seconds passed. "…But could you let go of my coat first?"


	3. Dimaria x Brandish

Brandish's knuckles were white, fists clenched tightly at her sides. She struggled to keep the rage out of her voice as she spoke. "Give it back, Mari."

Dimaria buried her face in the coat, rubbing her cheek against the soft fabric. "Ooh… I like it."

Ignored. Brandish gritted her teeth. How dare she abuse her temporal abilities like this? Her legs were numb, frozen in place by the spell - she was forced to watch as Dimaria… _violated_ her favourite coat. And she could do nothing to get it back.

"Oh, don't worry, Randi." Dimaria smiled sweetly - but Brandish could see the pure malice behind her expression. "You look much better like this. Without this silly coat, I can at least see your figure properly." The response was a low growl. "…But if you insist on having a coat, you can have mine. I never wear it anyway."

She futilely batted her hands in protest as Dimaria walked closer to her, unwinding the sleeves of the coat around her waist. Brandish shuddered as the stiff fabric was draped over her bare shoulders, her glare fixed on the still-smirking Dimaria.

Dimaria hummed to herself as she strolled down the hallway, fishing through the pockets hidden inside of the coat. "Candy? Nope, don't need this…"

"I was saving that!"

Dimaria chuckled gleefully, dropping the handful in the trash can. "It had gone stale anyway. Now, what else is in here…?"

Brandish watched in horror as two slim fingers drew a square of parchment from the pocket of the coat. _No, anything but that…!_

"What's this?" Dimaria flipped open the folded sheet. "Ooh, a poem! Let's see…" She cleared her throat, raising one hand above her head like a melodramatic character in a Shakespearean play.

At that point, Brandish snapped.

"Mari, give it back!"

Dimaria turned her head, smirking. "Come over here and make me."

A few moments passed. Brandish's face darkened. "I don't need to come over there to make you."

Before she could ask what Brandish meant, Dimaria felt a cold squeezing sensation around her arm. Her brown eyes widened as she realized exactly what was happening. Unknowingly releasing the spell she cast on Brandish, she fell to her knees on the polished floor, her free hand frantically clawing at the shrinking armor digging into her flesh.

High heels clicked against the marble as Brandish headed toward her, and the armor abruptly stopped shrinking.

"Now… Are you going to give back my coat, or should I crush your arm?"

There was a long pause in which Dimaria considered her options. She really did like that coat. To add to that, teasing Brandish was always fun… but was it really worth the loss of her arm?

She gritted her teeth. "Fine, fine, have your coat back!"

Brandish smiled as she lifted the garment out of Dimaria's limp arms. "Thank you, Mari."

Dimaria stared after her as she headed back toward her quarters.

"…Randi? Are you going to give my coat back?"

Brandish stopped. After a few silent moments, she turned around and smirked at her.

"No."


	4. Ajeel x Invel: Poison

**A/N: Fair warning: this one is angst.**

* * *

The flaps of the nearby tent danced in the breeze, a veil of scarlet leaves tumbling from the tree above. Jagged rocks made the only seats available all the way out here - in the mountains, the site of the Spriggans' most recent mission.

Ajeel sat on the edge of a large, flat boulder, back hunched, head down. At a glance, one would think he was asleep - until they saw the whiteness of his knuckles, hands clasped together tightly in his lap.

He was waiting for something.

Twenty-four hours ago, he'd been in a tent, listening to his fellow Spriggan explaining a plan for the oncoming battle. Invel was among the more strategic members of the Twelve - his plan seemed functional, placing their team of wizards in the most effective positions to take down the demon.

Twenty-two hours ago, he'd been standing next to Invel on a cliff overlooking the demon's home valley. Invel had conveniently brought some sandwiches, though they were slightly flattened from being in the bag among all the files for the mission; Ajeel, having skipped the last meal, had been grateful for this.

Nineteen hours ago, they'd been in the heat of battle.

Eighteen hours ago, they had finally taken down the demon, though not without difficulty.

Seventeen hours ago, Invel had collapsed from the hit he had taken during the fight. The one he had brushed off all concerns about. The poison had been worse than they'd thought. It had seemed so harmless - Invel hadn't even known it was there until that moment.

Fifteen hours ago, Ajeel lay in the cramped tent he was supposed to sleep in. They'd told him not to worry. Medics were already on their way. The emperor hadn't thought it necessary to send them on such a supposedly easy mission. Vistarion was nine hours away. Only seven more hours to go.

Eight hours ago, they'd arrived, and immediately disappeared into what had been designated the "medical tent".

For the past seven and a half hours, Ajeel had been waiting out here, alternating between kicking small stones off of the cliff and sitting on the flat rock he'd found.

The other soldiers hadn't worried about Invel. After all, he was among the strongest mages on the continent - and Alvarez had the best medics. He would be fine. It would take a matter of minutes for such skilled healing mages to get rid of the poison.

So what was taking them so long?

"Ajeel, sir…"

Startled, he raised his head. The healer took a step backwards - probably shocked at the bags under his eyes, the result of a sleepless night.

"Yeah?" His voice sounded almost too hopeful. Had they finally succeeded?

The healer coughed. "…We did our best, sir… but we were only able to slow down the process…" She hung her head, unable to look him in the eye. "If we had arrived just an hour earlier…"

Her lips continued to move, but Ajeel heard nothing. His heart sank, eyes staring blankly ahead.

Invel was going to die.

Invel was dying, and there was nothing even the best healers could do to save him.

It didn't seem real - it had to be a bad dream. Surely, when he returned to Vistarion, Ajeel would walk into Invel's office and find him sitting alive and well at his desk, doing the paperwork as usual. But he wouldn't. Invel would be gone. And he wouldn't come back.

This couldn't be happening.

"…What?" He looked up to see the healer looking expectant, as if awaiting a response.

"We were wondering if you wanted to speak with him one last time, sir."

"…Oh. Yeah."

Nodding, she stepped aside, letting him walk past her and into the tent.

Ajeel barely recognized Invel at first. His shirt was wrinkled, glasses missing, jacket crumpled on the ground next to the pile of blankets serving as a bed; his hair, not tied in its usual neat ponytail, was tangled and spread carelessly across the pillow.

Ajeel took a seat on another heap of blankets next to the bed. Up close, he could see the beads of sweat on Invel's paler-than-usual skin; the occasional pained twitch of his closed eyelids.

"Hey, Invel."

"…Ajeel." Invel turned toward him, opening his eyes. "Did you hear about…?"

"Yeah…" He began playing with a strand of white hair. "They couldn't help, huh?"

Invel frowned and stared straight ahead, a distant look in his eyes. Something seemed to be on his mind. "They said I have about two weeks left."

Ajeel gulped, his trembling hand gripping the white strand tighter, as if that would somehow keep Invel here with him.

"Remember that time when your cat ate my goldfish?"

Invel, to Ajeel's surprise, managed a weak laugh. "Yes. She seems to enjoy your company." He seemed just as eager to change the subject away from his fate.

Ajeel nodded. "I guess so."

With their conversation drifting from topic to topic, Ajeel soon forgot what was happening and why they were here. He let himself relax, laughing and smiling throughout their discussion. But Invel couldn't ignore the pain throughout his entire body - sometimes dulling, then returning full-force, making him wince.

Ajeel's words trailed off into silence. "…Do you want me to leave?"

Invel gave the slightest shake of his head, reaching out to grip Ajeel's arm. "No." He paused. "There's one more thing I need to ask of you."

Why did a pit of dread sink into Ajeel's stomach at those words? Invel's last request would probably be something simple. "Stop destroying things", or something along those lines. So why did he feel as though a guillotine hung over his head?

He stared down at Invel, trying to swallow his terror. "What is it?"

"Kill me."

The chill that suddenly pierced through Ajeel's body, for once, didn't come from Invel's magic. "…What?"

"Kill me." Invel turned his head, looking up at him again. "They said… two more weeks. Two more weeks of… this. I can't do it myself. I can barely move, let alone use magic in this state."

Ajeel stared down at him, unsure what to say. It would save Invel a lot of suffering, but could he really kill him?

Invel averted his eyes, staring at the ceiling. For a brief moment, he wished someone like Wahl or Irene had been assigned to this mission along with him. They would have no trouble killing him.

"…I'm sorry." He closed his eyes. "I shouldn't ask such a thing. I just want this to be over." He paused. "I already told the medics I would ask this of you, if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm not going to kill you, dumbass!" Realizing that tears were flowing freely down his face, Ajeel moved his arm up to hide his eyes.

Invel would be in this much pain for the next two weeks - it would be merciful to kill him now. Ajeel gritted his teeth, trying to stop the tears.

 _Why can't I do it?_

He knew why. It was because he couldn't walk into that empty office and know that he was the reason it was empty. It was bad enough that Invel was dying, but killing him himself?

"Ajeel, I'm going to die anyway." Invel sighed. "You've killed people before. You wipe out entire villages on a regular basis. I don't understand why you're having such difficulty with this."

"This is completely different!" He moved his arm away from his face, glaring down at Invel. "I don't know the people I kill in those situations!"

"…If you really don't want to, that's fine." Invel turned his head away from Ajeel, his voice softening. "I'm sorry."

For several long moments, silence fell over them like a fog, both lost in their own thoughts. Ajeel folded his hands again, resuming the hunched-over position from earlier, staring down at the ground.

Everything had happened so suddenly. It had seemed simple when Zeref described it to them back in Vistarion: find the demon, kill it, and return home. The thought that he could lose Invel had never crossed his mind. It just seemed impossible.

Finally, he spoke, his voice barely a whisper. "Do you want to die that badly?"

"…You don't have to do it." The pain could be heard in Invel's voice.

Invel, eyes wide with surprise, turned his head toward Ajeel as he felt the brush of sand against his neck.

Ajeel stared back at him, hand trembling, his dread only increasing. He wished Invel would change his mind; say that he wanted to live, even if it was just for two weeks. But if Invel really wanted to die, he would go through with it.

His heart sank as Invel smiled sadly and nodded at him.

"Thank you, Ajeel."

He had to do it.

Ajeel gulped, squeezing his eyes shut in a vain effort to hold back the tears.

Deep red stained the dull colours of the blankets, a lone trail of blood trickling into the dirt.


	5. Ajeel x Invel

"Here's your coffee, sir."

Invel pointedly ignored the bitterness in Ajeel's voice, not even looking up from his work. "Thank you, Ajeel." One hand reached up to receive the mug of coffee.

This reaction was unsatisfactory. Ajeel frowned, holding the mug out of Invel's reach.

Invel finally looked up from his work, glaring at him. "Ajeel."

"What? If you're gonna make me do stuff for you, at least let me have some fun."

"Do you want to be in more trouble than you're already in?"

"Why am I in trouble anyway? His Majesty encourages us to practice our magic as often as possible."

Invel's raised arm fell limply onto the desk. "You flooded my room with sand! Don't you dare try to tell me that was just an accident while you were practicing!"

Ajeel glared down at him. "Okay, so I did that on purpose. I wanted you to come after me, okay?"

For several long moments, the room fell silent.

"I wanted you to chase me," Ajeel said bluntly. "But you used your magic to catch me instead. Which was totally unfair, by the way."

"Alright, but explain yourself." Invel narrowed his eyes at him. "Why did you want me to chase you?"

"'Cause you're always in your office!" Ajeel gestured to the room around them, the jerking of his arm spilling coffee everywhere. "I was trying to get you out of here! It's summer - can't you just do something other than your work for once?!"

"My work habits are not affecting you."

"No, but they're affecting you! It's not healthy for you to be in here all the time!" More coffee dripped onto the carpet.

Invel shot a disapproving glance at the dark spots staining the floor. "At least I'm getting my work done."

Ajeel leaned over the desk, his face inches from Invel's. "The rest of us take vacations and still get our work done. Why can't you?"

Invel snorted. "You barely get your work done. Sometimes not at all."

Ajeel stepped back, pulling over a chair and slumping into it. "Okay, fine. But you work harder than us. Would it kill you to take a break?" Invel remained silent. Ajeel continued. "How about this? I'll take you to, I dunno, just walk around the capital city or something… tomorrow afternoon." He gradually realized what he had just said. "Not as a date. Just an excuse to get you out of this stuffy room." Silence. "C'mon, it'll be fun."

"…Alright. I'll go." A small smile tugged at the corners of Invel's lips. "Just don't expect me to do this again."

Ajeel grinned. "Have I entered an alternate univerese, or did you just crack a smile for me?"

"Shut up."

"Alright, alright. Leaving now." In the doorway, he glanced over his shoulder. Invel was working again. Typical. "…Well. See you tomorrow afternoon."

Feeling strangely light, he left.


	6. Serena: Ten-Minute Sale

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated Obsidian in a few months (again)! I've been working on requests. I have another to upload after this one, then one more to write, then I'll write the next chapter of Obsidian.**

* * *

"Ah, Serena. You've arrived."

"That I have!" The young man leaned against the doorway, grinning at Invel. "Any particular reason you called me here, Ice Queen? Or did you just wish to gaze upon my glorious face?"

Invel completely ignored Serena's words, pushing a small stack of papers toward him. "Take these to the emperor."

Serena gasped. "Such an insignificant task for a being as great as myself? Oh - but rest assured, Ice Queen, your papers shall be delivered!" He swiped the papers from the desk. "For even such a lowly task is - "

"Serena?"

"Hm?"

"Just go.

* * *

Serena took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air as he strolled through the gardens - the shortest route to the emperor's office from Invel's. A faint breeze drifted by, rustling the leaves. Only the distant sounds of the city disturbed the peace.

...Was it his imagination, or was the city a bit louder than usual?

Serena froze. Of course! Today was the day of the nearest clothing store's ten-minute sale - the day he had planned to get that expensive coat he'd been staring at in the store window all week!

But he couldn't just leave the papers here, nor could he take them into the store. Frantically, he looked around for somewhere to put them. The bench? No, they would blow away.

His eyes settled on Neinhart's flower bed, right by the palace wall.

Inspiration struck immediately. He could surely make it to the sale on time, if he was quick enough...

* * *

Serena hummed to himself, grinning from ear to ear as he headed back toward the palace. From one hand swung a plastic bag with the name of the clothing store printed across it in bold letters.

He had been knocked down, trampled, kicked, and punched. One of his teeth was missing, and he had a black eye. But he finally had his coat.

Serena stopped dead in his tracks as an ear-splitting shriek rang from beyond the palace wall.

"My flowers!"

His eyes widened. Immediately, he broke into a run, dashing past the wall to find Neinhart crouching by a flower bed.

"Who would do this to my flowers?" Neinhart sobbed. "This one dies within minutes if it's uprooted! It's gone now..."

Serena knelt down to awkwardly pat him on the shoulder. "Don't you worry, Neinhart! I'm sure you'll be able to get another."

"Serena!" Neinhart turned toward him. "Do you know who did this?"

"Why, me, of course." Silence fell for several long moments before Serena realized what he had just said. He began waving his arms uncontrollably, his words coming out in one long rush. "I needed somewhere to put those papers while I went shopping! I couldn't miss that sale, Neinhart! You must understand!"

A ten-dollar bill was pressed into the palm of his hand. Serena stared at Neinhart in confusion.

Neinhart glared at him. "Well, if you're so intent on shopping, you can go buy me more seeds."

* * *

After several trips to the nearby garden centre, Serena wondered why Neinhart didn't just go himself.

He dumped the newest packet into Neinhart's open palm. "Is this the right one?"

Neinhart glanced down at the packet and smiled. "Yes! Thank you, Serena."

"You are welcome! Now I must deliver these papers!" He hurried off in the other direction.

A short moment later, he paused and ran back to Neinhart.

"Do you know where the papers are now?"

"I left them on the bench over there." Not looking up from the flower bed, Neinhart gestured vaguely over his shoulder.

"There's nothing there."

"What?" Neinhart turned around. "I swear I left them there!"

"They must have blown away." Serena frowned and wandered across the garden, scanning the entire area for the papers. "But where did they go?"

"I have no idea." Neinhart shrugged. "But they can't have gone far. They're probably still in the gardens somewhere."

* * *

After several minutes of searching for the papers, Serena spotted a figure standing by a nearby tree.

"Brandish!"

His fellow Spriggan didn't seem to notice him, keeping her gaze fixed on the high branches of the tree. "Dumb birds..."

"Birds?" Serena tried to peer up into the tree. "What birds? What are they doing?"

"Look. It's trying to feed an entire sheet of paper to its chick." Brandish pointed toward a nest almost-hidden among the leaves. "It's so... stupid."

Serena squinted up at the bird, holding a sheet of paper in its beak. He had to admit, the sight was quite amusing -

Wait... paper?

Brandish turned her stare to Serena as he suddenly rushed forward and slammed against the tree trunk, wrapping himself around it and beginning to inch upward.

"What are you doing?"

"Paper! The papers I was supposed to take to the emperor!"

"...Why would anyone entrust you with something like that?"

"Because I'm amazing!"

Brandish rolled her eyes. "If you're so amazing, how did you lose the papers in the first place?"

"...Long story!"

Serena continued his painfully slow journey up the trunk. The branches were just a few feet away - a foot - half a foot -

"Yes!" He cried out as he finally managed to grasp a sturdy branch. From here, his journey would be much easier.

Hopefully.

He climbed onto the branch and glanced downward. Far below, Brandish stood with her arms folded, watching him with a mixture of pity and disinterest.

He looked upwards. There was the bird's nest, just a meter or so out of his reach.

Gritting his teeth, Serena continued the climb. He drew close to the nest; he could see the paper from here, and the nearby pile. A few crumpled and torn bits of paper lay around, caught on the branches. He collected them as he travelled up.

A smirk spread across his face. He had reached the cluster of thin branches holding the nest in place. Just a few more inches and he'd -

 _Snap._

Twigs snagged his hair as he tumbled toward the ground in a mass of foliage, grasping at thin air in an attempt to regain the papers. The bird fluttered away from her nest in a fit of panic.

He hit the ground hard. It took him several long moments to catch his breath. Next to him lay the half-destroyed nest, the chicks still inside looking vaguely confused.

"...The papers!" He began to feel about frantically, trying to collect every sheet of paper. How many had he been given again? Twenty? Twenty-one?

He managed to find and collect eighteen. By now, they were muddy, torn, and crinkled. But he had to complete his task.

From here, he could see the window of the emperor's office. Brightening up, he stood and continued his trek.

* * *

The doors creaked open. From here, it was only a short journey down the hallway to reach the office.

Serena grinned from ear to ear, hurrying toward the oak door. He pushed it open and stepped inside.

"Emperor! Invel asked me to deliver these to you!"

Zeref looked up from whatever he was working on. Slowly, his gaze travelled from Serena's messy hair, to his black eye and broken tooth, to the pile of dirty, crumpled papers in his hands.

"...Show me the papers."

Serena shuffled over to show him the papers.

Zeref squinted and shook his head. "I can't read those. Go get Invel to make another copy."

"But Your Majesty, I - "

"Unreadable!" Zeref turned back to his book. "Go and get another copy. A clean one."

"...Okay." Serena trudged out of the room, across the gardens, and back to Invel's office.

* * *

Invel glared up at him. "You did what?"

"I got distracted by a sale and buried them in Neinhart's flower garden so they wouldn't blow away. Then Neinhart made me buy more seeds for him - "

"No need to repeat the entire thing!" Invel rubbed his temples. "...I'll make you another copy. Just don't mess this one up. Okay?"

He tapped a sequence of keys on the keyboard before him. On the other side of the room, the printer started up.

Over the sound of the papers being printed out, he just barely heard Serena whisper:

"The jacket was worth it."


	7. Dimaria & Serena: Seasick

A long, guttural groan sounded across the deck. On the starboard side of the ship, a tall man sat hunched over the edge, his face a sickly shade of green. Next to him sat a blonde woman, awkwardly rubbing his back.

"Maria... heeeelp meeee..."

Dimaria's nose wrinkled, tightening her grip on the brown paper bag. It wouldn't do for one of Alvarez's ships to be covered in vomit, after all - and certainly not for one of the Spriggan Twelve to be seen in such a state.

"How much longer...?"

"An hour and a half," she replied.

Serena groaned, falling backwards off of the bench and flopping around on the deck like a fish.

Dimaria rolled her eyes. Even in such a sickly state, Serena still managed to be the most annoying of the Twelve.

"Can't you make time go faster?"

"My magic doesn't work that way!"

Serena groaned again, rolling onto his stomach. "I pray for the sweet release of death!"

Dimaria turned around to face the sea - anything was better than watching Serena at that moment. "Just another eighty-nine minutes and forty-seven seconds... forty-six... forty-five..."

"God! Make it end!"

Dimaria focused on a vaguely dagger-shaped cloud. "Can't you just go lie down in the cabins?"

"Alas, I cannot!" Serena gave a weak flop to emphasize his words. "For my legs are too flimsy with sickness - "

She peered at him over her shoulder. "I'm not carrying you. You'll vomit on me."

"I won't!" He all but threw himself at her feet. "I promise!"

Dimaria stared down at him, baffled. Serena never behaved this humbly - quite the opposite. Such a display from him was something she thought she'd never see.

He was never going to live this down.

"Fine, fine. I'll carry you." She stood up and stretched.

"My saviour!"

Serena hung limply in Dimaria's arms as she carried him to the cabins and unceremoniously tossed him onto the rock-hard mattress. He was out like a light, snoring loudly almost the moment his head hit the pillow.

She rolled her eyes again. "Even when you're asleep, you're loud as ever..."

Heading back up to the top deck and slumping back onto the bench, she closed her eyes to simply enjoy the sound of the waves.

Things were surprisingly peaceful now. It almost felt... wrong.

She opened one eye and glanced around. "...Guess I should be grateful for this peace... god knows it won't last long..."

She leaned back and let herself relax.


	8. Dimaria x Brandish: Cake

A sweet scent drifted from the kitchen. Brandish smiled to herself, breathing it in as she strolled past.

Why the cooks were baking a cake was a mystery to her. A wedding? A party? Simply a spur-of-the-moment request from the emperor? Whatever the case, it smelled delicious.

A quick glance through the kitchen window revealed that the cake was mostly finished. A chef stood beside the glorious creation, dotting swirls of frosting around the bottom of the top layer. Four layers tall and shining with pale blue icing, it almost looked too good to eat.

Brandish wondered if she would get to try any…

However, the cake quickly slipped from her mind as she strolled onward, enjoying the spring breeze.

A shadow darted by and disappeared behind the kitchen building. Brandish paid it no heed; it was probably just Wahl up to his usual tricks.

A light breeze disturbed the surface of the pond. Brandish took a seat by the rippling water, hugging her knees to her chest. It was quiet here; the wildlife seemed unusually peaceful today.

She closed her eyes and lay down in the grass. It would be best to make the most of this tranquility while it lasted.

"Randi!"

Brandish sat straight up, her head almost colliding with Dimaria's chin. "Mari!"

"I need your help." Dimaria didn't waste a second; immediately, she was dragging Brandish back toward the kitchens.

"With what? Mari, let go of my jacket. You're dragging me across the grass. What's so important that you needed to interrupt me while I was relaxing?"

Dimaria pulled Brandish into the narrow passage between the kitchen and the neighbouring building. Her grin was visible, even in the darkness.

"I'm going to steal some of that cake."

"You'll get caught."

"No. I have a plan." Her grin widened.

"…And how exactly am I involved in this plan?" Brandish folded her arms.

"You'll see. Just follow me for now."

Dimaria clicked her teeth together.

* * *

Every baker in the kitchen stood as still as statues. Dimaria darted between the frozen crowd to reach the table in the centre - where the masterpiece lay, gleaming pale blue in the afternoon sunlight.

By now, the man adding the frosting swirls had reached the second layer.

Though disturbing anything in the room would be impossible, Dimaria reached toward the knife with care. She grasped the handle and lifted it, positioning it next to the bottom layer of the cake.

Brandish watched, observing Dimaria's precision as she cut a sliver out from the bottom of the cake and gently drew it out from beneath the rest of the treat.

Dimaria motioned for Brandish to exit the kitchen. She followed closely, clutching the slice of cake as though she were afraid to drop it.

Only when they were safely outside and tucked into the alley between the two buildings did Dimaria click her teeth again.

The eerily still scenery around them immediately rustled back to life. A light breeze drifted through the area, as though it had been stopped mid-breath by the time pause.

Dimaria grinned, holding up the slice of cake like a trophy. "Okay, this is where you come in. I want you to expand this piece of cake to twice its size."

Brandish frowned. "Only twice the original size?"

"…Good point. Okay, three times? Four?"

Brandish grinned, casting her magic on the cake. It began to swell in Dimaria's arms, growing to twice its size, then three times.

"You two!"

The slice of cake snapped back to its original size like an elastic band that had been stretched and released. Both Spriggans spun around in shock to see the baker looming behind them.

"You thought you could take a slice off m'cake and I wouldn't notice? You left the knife covered in crumbs!"

Dimaria swore and turned to run away, dashing behind the building. Brandish followed closely behind her.

The chef turned and rushed toward the other end of the building, hoping to catch the two on the other side. But he lacked the stamina and speed of the two Spriggans; Dimaria and Brandish shot out from behind the building and were quickly out of his sight.

* * *

Dimaria reached back and grabbed Brandish's hand, all but dragging her along. She ran until she was out of breath, then collapsed onto a wooden bench.

Brandish flopped onto the seat beside her, draping herself like a rug across the bench. She leaned back and tried to catch her breath.

"So… how about that cake?"

Dimaria nodded and held up the slice triumphantly - only to have it snatched out of her hands.

Neinhart waved cheerfully at them as he walked away. "Thank you for the cake!"

His two comrades could only sit on the bench and stare after him, open-mouthed.

"After him…!" Brandish stood up, but flopped to the ground - still out of breath from their previous sprint across the gardens.

Dimaria groaned, sinking down on the bench. "Asshole…"

Brandish groaned in defeat and curled up into a ball on the ground.

"Ugh… I can't believe it…" Dimaria paused. "I guess we'll have to get our revenge later."


End file.
